If This Be Sin (1949)

July 1, 1950

THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'If This Be Sin,' With Myrna Loy and Roger Livesey, Is New Feature at Rivoli

By BOSLEY CROWTHER

Published: July 1, 1950

Some pretty good acting talent and some obviously expensive British sets, as well as some beautiful scenery on the Island of Capri, have been expended by Gregory Ratoff in his new film, "If This Be Sin," to the demonstration of a thesis that is as old and bewhiskered as the pard. This thesis, displayed through the behavior of a British barrister who distrusts his wife and causes a minor family turmoil, is that there are none so blind as those who will not see.

The sightless in this exposition, which went on at the Rivoli yesterday, are virtually everybody of major importance in the tale. First, there is the lawyer, whom Roger Livesey plays; he can't see that he has neglected his long-suffering wife, Myrna Loy, and that by his neglect he has thrown her into the arms of Richard Greene. And then he can't see her nobility when she generously passes Mr. Greene along to their marriageable daughter, Peggy Cummins, in the hope of avoiding a scene.

As for the daughter, Miss Cummins, she can't see very well herself, having trouble perceiving the greatness of her mother's generosity, when she finds out. The mother, too, seems a little walleyed and near-sighted, at times, while Mr. Greene looks to be a fellow whose eyes are shut and who just goes where he is told.

With so many unperceptive people knocking about in this film, it's no wonder that a great deal of groping and wandering off blindly is done. The whole picture ambulates slowly, talks a lot and says nothing at all. It could be, of course, that the author of the screen play was also slightly blind.

And since we are on the subject, let's admit that we have trouble seeing, too. We have trouble seeing why a picture as flat as this one was ever produced.